Bob Bradley has dropped star attacker Federico Bernardeschi for Toronto FC’s game against D.C. United, calling the move a “coach’s decision.”
That decision came after Bernardeschi openly questioned Bradley’s tactics and approach after TFC’s loss to Austin FC last weekend.
“We need to [have] a little bit more tactics. We need an idea of how we play because this is the real problem for me. It’s impossible to play like this when we play without [an] idea,” the Italian said after a result that left TFC at the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference.
Unsurprisingly, Bradley didn’t take too kindly to one of his best players publicly flaming him.
“Coach’s decision: Fede will not be in the squad for this game,” Bradley told reporters on Friday, though he added that the decision was not a “disciplinary move.”
“There has been a lot going on this week, a lot of internal discussions. So in terms of preparing for this match, the decision was made that way,” the coach added. “When you think about preparing the group for this game, I felt this was the best way to handle it.
“There’s been just different things that we have worked through this week and that’s where it left us as we were getting closer to this match, so that we felt we could be best prepared as possible.”
Bradley denied that Bernardeschi’s long-term future at the club was in doubt.
“I think that the plan is, for sure, that Fede is back in it [next week] and we put this week behind us and we all move forward,” he said.
Bradley’s decision came on the same day The Athletic released an exposé into the ongoing soap opera that is TFC’s season, which revealed, among other things, that Bernardeschi and fellow Italian star Lorenzo Insigne led a conference call with TFC players this week that discussed their desire to see Bradley fired.
The report also stated that Bernardeschi and Insigne don’t get along, that Bernardeschi asked for and was denied a raise, that the locker room distrusts captain Michael Bradley, and this chestnut:
Bernardeschi has been admonished for using a vape pen in the practice facility, including the training room and on the team plane, despite being told multiple times it was not allowed.
All the while, Insigne and Bernardeschi have underperformed on the field in 2023, with Insigne only playing half the team’s games due to injury and Bernardeschi tallying three goals and two assists in 14 matches.
This could get a whole lot worse before it gets better.
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